LRSF # 12, Café Culture, Jack Dann

Opening: "From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion." - Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

After six Baptist suicide bombers met their god in the fiery nave, aisles, apse, towers and main altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the cafes that crowded Fiftieth and Fifty-First Streets become de rigueur for writers, artists, actors, news personalities, wealthy dilettantes, activists, dissidents, tourists, the Christian left, and wannabes.

Capsule: I have to say this is the first disappointing story I've read so far in the LRSF list. It's not a science-fiction story; and though this, in and of itself, does not comprise a critical attack, it is in part a justification for the irritation I felt upon having finished it. My expectations were confounded by the fact it was a LRSF pick and that it was published in no less than Asimov's. Now, expectations can be redefined, and thus a second reading might have delivered the goods. Not so here. This story didn't work for me because, regardless of genre or non-genre categorization, I didn't find enough to hold my interest. The extrapolation seemed intellectually non-rigorous (considering the magnitude of what is happening here, how would the rest of this proposed society really function?) and the ending seemed inconsistent with the protagonist's earlier psychological development (or, perhaps more accurately, motivational sketch). Even barring an interesting plot or compelling characters, the aesthetic experience might have been enough to provide reading sustenance. Alas, it wasn't. I found the writing of a high professional standard, to be sure, but lacking in the ultracrafty stylings of a Shepard, Bisson, Link or Ford, for instance, which is what would have been required. This story is preceded by Asimov's disclaimer about some scenes being potentially disturbing to readers. I didn't find them disturbing; I did find them disproportionately violent/harsh in relation to the net effect of the story.

For condensed, literary, groundbeaking stylized visions of a hellish future, there is a venerable tradition of great work readily available, in and out of the field. Consider, for example, some of Ballard's "condensed novels" (e.g. in The Atrocity Exhibition) or Spinrad's midperiod short work or almost all of Malzberg's short fiction. Stories like "Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan" and "Love and Napalm: Export USA" do what "Cafe Culture" is attempting much better and in fewer words.

And of course there is Updike's novel Terrorist.